HaroKid
2016
This game had the Toyota license at launch and had the custom radio station so by default it is/was the definite Forza Horizon experience.
2017
Excruciatingly intricate world-building, A highly engrossing plot, Unusually open-ended, and with a surprising soundtrack. Thanks to Impactful, on-the-fly, and emotionally charged decision making through gameplay, Prey simply deserves your attention, perhaps through more than a single playthrough.
Personal Accolades: 🥉 Golden Haro 2k19 3rd Place Winner
Personal Accolades: 🥉 Golden Haro 2k19 3rd Place Winner
2018
Production-wise, Sonic Mania Plus is an impressive herculean task to pull off - Visuals and audio are masterful, though a dreadful final zone severely lets down an otherwise colorful, creative, and fun platformer.
2010
This is da best of the "Goldeneye-Perfect Dark-TimeSplitters 2" trifecta
2007
Halo 3 is the second best in the trilogy - While the story is a step back from Halo 2's intrigue, the sandbox, AI, and encounter design more than make up for it. Multiplayer is classic, though not as satisfying as Combat Evolved.
I used to make fun of people that wanted to fuck the brutes but now I don't know who I am anymore
I used to make fun of people that wanted to fuck the brutes but now I don't know who I am anymore
1985
Universally accessible and satisfying controls, memorable tunes, and a poppy artstyle - SMB is a classic, though it's not timeless. Repetitious level design, visuals, and audio when not using warps can get tedious and cement Super Mario as a definitively dated, but quite fun experience.
2019
A cute lil game that's fun to play, but aesthetics aside I couldn't get a feel for the hook to the game. Neat and simple, if you're a hardcore Metroid fan I would assume this would be a nice love note to the genre.
2017
A neat idea for a game - Metroidvania + Rogue Like! I hope you like super specific genres.
Dead Cells is a nice breezy game (Not to be confused with easy) that has a fun rhythm and flow, though I don't know that I see a real value in the "Metroidvania" aspect to it, as the progression feels a lot more like a typical Rogue-Like.
My only knock against the game is that wiped runs are a bit more demoralizing than some others in the Rogue-Like category for some reason, and I can only do 1 run in a single session before moving on to something else.
Dead Cells is a nice breezy game (Not to be confused with easy) that has a fun rhythm and flow, though I don't know that I see a real value in the "Metroidvania" aspect to it, as the progression feels a lot more like a typical Rogue-Like.
My only knock against the game is that wiped runs are a bit more demoralizing than some others in the Rogue-Like category for some reason, and I can only do 1 run in a single session before moving on to something else.
Will of the Wisps ups the production value by a significant margin over the already gorgeous Ori and The Blind Forest, and dives deeper into a more hardcore action RPG oriented take on the Metroidvania.
For some, this will feel like an ultimate accumulation of the genre. For me, I don't find any value in this, and feel some of the uniqueness and freedom of the original is lost.
Ori and the Will of the Wisps on all accounts feels more tightly and intentionally designed, and the scale is impressive, but I somewhat feel the gameplay acts as an obstruction to the world, characters, and story of the game which otherwise is firing on even more emotional cylinders this go around.
For some, this will feel like an ultimate accumulation of the genre. For me, I don't find any value in this, and feel some of the uniqueness and freedom of the original is lost.
Ori and the Will of the Wisps on all accounts feels more tightly and intentionally designed, and the scale is impressive, but I somewhat feel the gameplay acts as an obstruction to the world, characters, and story of the game which otherwise is firing on even more emotional cylinders this go around.
2014
Halo 2's gorgeous new coat of paint remains the most pleasing audio-visual representation of Halo to this day, and go a long way into making the weakest (Yet still fun) entry of the trilogy still the weakest, but a whole lot more stimulating to play.
Halo 2's snappy multiplayer has a feel superior to that of Halo 3, but no one ever matchmakes Halo 2 so I will never get to experience it to the degree of the other titles.
Halo 2's snappy multiplayer has a feel superior to that of Halo 3, but no one ever matchmakes Halo 2 so I will never get to experience it to the degree of the other titles.
2019
"Pathologic 2 is meant to be unbearable"
Well, it is. Cool game tho - Pathologic 2 is probably the best case for and execution of including difficulty sliders in games.
Well, it is. Cool game tho - Pathologic 2 is probably the best case for and execution of including difficulty sliders in games.
2017
I was one of 12 people that kind of liked ARMS before Smash Brothers but it's taken me this long to realize every song in the soundtrack is the same
2016
They got real cool monsters in this game but it's kind of slow and also the main character is ass
The gameplay technically happens I guess, and the story is insufferable but I get to make my own cool gundam 😎
2023
Lies of P is the latest in the small handful of this genre of games that I've buckled up and really decided to dive into, joining titles like Star Wars Jedi Fallen Order and the original Dark Souls.
The inspirations of the twink Pinocchio game are tattooed up and down on two beefy roided up arms, adorned yet unimpeded by a sleeveless jean jacket that has "HAVE YOU PLAYED DARK SOULS YET" embroidered on the back, which may be a point of irritation or eye rolling to some. But, i don't know. Lies of P kind of feels like If Dark Souls Was Fun?
Or for a less inflammatory slogan, Dark Souls Without The Fat.
Lies of P's level design and structure, whether out of necessity of budget or pure design, feels positively brisk and focused. There's not a lot of pointless meandering to be had, and there's basically nothing in the entire game that felt needlessly cruel to me, which I thought would have been the M.O. for most of these soulslike games based on my limited familiarity with FromSoftware. It's really refreshing how the game's structure is clearly telegraphed with things like chapter numbers and enough narrative to sort of manage the pace of the adventure and help avoid it ever feeling suffocating or overly daunting to the point of being unengaging altogether.
Going into Lies of P, I was admittedly expecting something that was much more of a slog to get through, something to find the path of least resistance through and go "oh yeah ok that was fine" and be done with it. But the sheer freedom of playstyles, approaches, and actually-meaningful progression kept my focus locked in throughout my time playing. At no point did I feel I ever had to cheese the system and abuse obtuse mechanics to win, nor did I even feel like I could had I wanted to.
For the first half of the game I stuck with my starting weapon, in this case the rapier, not out of "this is the best approach" obligation, but just because of how much fun I had using it. Watching gameplay clips of others showed me how drastically I had played not just individual boss fights, but the entire game itself. I can probably count on two hands the number of times I perfectly blocked or parried an attack on purpose: Not for lack of execution, but more for lack of feeling like I needed to, or that it was The Way You Have To Do It.
Bonfire locations are placed thoughtfully and were seldom frustrating, and your Pinocchio Souls being dropped outside of the boss room felt far more. Sensible? than what I was expecting. In a lot of ways Lies of P was easier in difficulty than either Star Wars Jedi Fallen Order (At Jedi Master difficulty) or certainly Dark Souls itself - God knows I was only ever really frustrated at one fight (That wasn't even a proper boss to boot) but this decreased difficulty honestly did nothing to lessen my engagement or sense of reward and self satisfaction. It actually felt more satisfying to be playing a game that felt like it wanted me to keep playing it while also being completely reasonable.
There's a lot to appreciate here when it comes to the minute systems details, and surprisingly, things like the setting, themes and music, which I was also prepared to completely write off but ending up being way more engrossed in than anyone could take me seriously for, so for the sake of not ballooning this blog post any further, I'll leave it at that.
I haven't jumped into NG+ yet, but Lies of P is one of the incredibly few games I've ever actually considered doing it for.
The inspirations of the twink Pinocchio game are tattooed up and down on two beefy roided up arms, adorned yet unimpeded by a sleeveless jean jacket that has "HAVE YOU PLAYED DARK SOULS YET" embroidered on the back, which may be a point of irritation or eye rolling to some. But, i don't know. Lies of P kind of feels like If Dark Souls Was Fun?
Or for a less inflammatory slogan, Dark Souls Without The Fat.
Lies of P's level design and structure, whether out of necessity of budget or pure design, feels positively brisk and focused. There's not a lot of pointless meandering to be had, and there's basically nothing in the entire game that felt needlessly cruel to me, which I thought would have been the M.O. for most of these soulslike games based on my limited familiarity with FromSoftware. It's really refreshing how the game's structure is clearly telegraphed with things like chapter numbers and enough narrative to sort of manage the pace of the adventure and help avoid it ever feeling suffocating or overly daunting to the point of being unengaging altogether.
Going into Lies of P, I was admittedly expecting something that was much more of a slog to get through, something to find the path of least resistance through and go "oh yeah ok that was fine" and be done with it. But the sheer freedom of playstyles, approaches, and actually-meaningful progression kept my focus locked in throughout my time playing. At no point did I feel I ever had to cheese the system and abuse obtuse mechanics to win, nor did I even feel like I could had I wanted to.
For the first half of the game I stuck with my starting weapon, in this case the rapier, not out of "this is the best approach" obligation, but just because of how much fun I had using it. Watching gameplay clips of others showed me how drastically I had played not just individual boss fights, but the entire game itself. I can probably count on two hands the number of times I perfectly blocked or parried an attack on purpose: Not for lack of execution, but more for lack of feeling like I needed to, or that it was The Way You Have To Do It.
Bonfire locations are placed thoughtfully and were seldom frustrating, and your Pinocchio Souls being dropped outside of the boss room felt far more. Sensible? than what I was expecting. In a lot of ways Lies of P was easier in difficulty than either Star Wars Jedi Fallen Order (At Jedi Master difficulty) or certainly Dark Souls itself - God knows I was only ever really frustrated at one fight (That wasn't even a proper boss to boot) but this decreased difficulty honestly did nothing to lessen my engagement or sense of reward and self satisfaction. It actually felt more satisfying to be playing a game that felt like it wanted me to keep playing it while also being completely reasonable.
There's a lot to appreciate here when it comes to the minute systems details, and surprisingly, things like the setting, themes and music, which I was also prepared to completely write off but ending up being way more engrossed in than anyone could take me seriously for, so for the sake of not ballooning this blog post any further, I'll leave it at that.
I haven't jumped into NG+ yet, but Lies of P is one of the incredibly few games I've ever actually considered doing it for.